The Amazing Race 34.8 “La Ville Rose”

Alas, poor Quinton and Mattie.

Last night, Quinton and Mattie were the last to arrive at the Pit Stop in Toulouse and they were eliminated from the race.  They finished in 6th place, which is really not a bad finish for a team that never really had a strong leg over the course of the race.  They were the ultimate middle-of-the-road team.  They managed to finish 3rd twice and that was as good as it got for them.  They seem like nice people but they were also the team that I always had to remind myself about whenever I was trying to write up one of these recaps.

We have five teams left.  Derek and Claire and Luis and Michelle are consistently strong and, at this point, I would be shocked if they didn’t make it to the final leg.  Emily and Molly are a strong team but Emily’s knee injury could slow them down.  Marcus and Michael are strong, except for when they’re having to drive.  There’s always a team that struggles with finding the next roadblock or detour and this season, it’s Marcus and Michael.  Aubrey and David have struggled a lot over the past two episodes but they could potentially sneak into the top three.

As for how everyone finished last night, it was:

1. Derek and Claire, claiming their second first place finish of the season.  When this season began, Claire seemed like she would be the weak link for this team but, last night, she easily handled the roadblock.  These two are in a good position.
2. Louis and Michelle, who are both coming on strong.  Luis’s “bromance” with Derek was cute.
3. Emily and Molly, who are a strong team but I cringe every time I see Emily starting to limp.  I’ve dealt with knee injuries.  They are the worst and they always flare up at the worst possible time.
4. Marcus and Michael, who have 3 first place finishes this season.  They’re strong but, last night, they wasted a lot of time driving.
5. Aubrey and David, who are holding on.  At this point, whether they make it to the end seems to depend more on whether or not the other teams screw up than on anything else.
6. Quinton and Mattie, who were eliminated.

Next week, the Race goes to Spain!